Generally considered the pinnacle of Jethro Tull’s recordings, Ian Anderson’s songwriting was quickly evolving from British folk-blues roots and helping define prog-rock. While definitely pushing the envelope for the era taking on the subjects of God and organized religion, it was guitarist Martin Barre who was establishing equal ground with Anderson’s flute as an instrumental voice of the band.

• 180 Gram Vinyl
• Pressed at Optimal Media in Germany
• Gatefold Cover replica of original artwork
• 24 Page Booklet adapted from the 40th anniversary set
• 2011 Steven Wilson Remix
• Includes Download Code

1971 saw the release of some of the greatest pop/rock albums of all time: Imagine, Pearl, Sticky Fingers, Who’s Next, Tupelo Honey, Surf’s Up, Fragile, Led Zeppelin's IV, Muswell Hillbillies, Tapestry, What’s Going On? and both Madman Across the Water and Tumbleweed Connection are just some of the iconic titles that hit the stores that year. Add Aqualung and that’s quite an output for a twelve month span.

Generally considered the pinnacle of the band’s recorded output, front-man Ian Anderson’s songwriting was quickly evolving from British folk-blues roots and helping define prog-rock. While definitely pushing the envelope for the era in taking on the subjects of God and organized religion, it was guitarist Martin Barre who was establishing equal ground with Anderson’s flute as an instrumental voice of the band. Joining Tull after Toni Iommi (Black Sabbath) who himself had replaced original guitarist Mick Abrahams (Blodwyn Pig, Mick Abrahams Band) departed after only a few days, both Barre’s opening riffs and lead breaks became indelibly imprinted to generations of classic rock.

1971's Aqualung to many is Jethro Tull's masterpiece. The title track and "Locomotive Breath," with their catchy riffs, would be joined by "My God," "Cross-Eyed Mary," and "Hymn 43" as classic rock staples. There’s no arguing with its commercial success, having sold more than seven million copies and continuing to outsell anything in Jethro Tull's back catalog. Yet, Aqualung is arguably Tull’s most misunderstood album.

Critics dubbed it a concept album, particularly for Anderson’s critical, skeptical views of organized religion, mostly on side B (“My God”). Anderson has disputed, almost resented, the assessment seeing the record as “just a bunch of songs.” The labeling lead the band to really give the critics a concept album with the following studio release Thick as a Brick.

Aqualung has a dominant theme but is certainly much more than a concept album hinging on a solitary subject. Anderson explores the struggles of the less fortunate in our society (“Aqualung,” “Cross-Eyed Mary,” “Up to Me”), teenage angst and formal education difficulties (“Wind Up,” “Mother Goose”) and returns to his parental themes with “Cheap Day Return, a tune encompassing Anderson’s feelings while traveling to visit his sick father.

Aqualung is where Anderson really begins to develop his personal style for acoustical guitar songs with “Cheap Day Return,” “Mother Goose,” and “Slipstream.” It also established one of the most notable features of Jethro Tull’s music: songs varying with intensity, mixing medium to heavy electrical sounds with lighter acoustical passages.

This new 2015 vinyl edition of Jethro Tull's 1971 masterwork, Aqualung was mastered from Steven Wilson's 2011 40th Anniversary stereo mix and is pressed on 180g LP with an accompanying 24 page booklet in a reproduction of the original gatefold cover.


Notes On The New Mixes:

"Ian has stated that the original recording sessions for Aqualung were a struggle to overcome the technical shortcomings of the studio situation the band found themselves in, and it's certainly the case that the original release is more a triumph of writing and performance than it is of sonic excellence. But I was pleased to discover that what was on the multitrack master tapes sounded better than the 1971 mix would suggest. Using the digitally transferred 16 and 8 track tapes we were able to get a lot more tone from the instruments, as well as a much greater sense of depth and clarity in the sonic picture."

"As a long term fan of this music, my aim when remixing a classic album like this is to be faithful to the original, and to stay absolutely true to the spirit of the era in which the music was made. Some cleaing up has been done, but only to the extent that it had zero impact on the audio (after all, a little bit of analogue tape hiss is part of the magic!) No attempt was made to "modernise" the mix, and to this end most of the equalisation, volume levels (and rides), stereo positioning, reverbs, echos and other effects processing are matched as closely as possible to the 1971 mix. The only exceptions to this are that we have brought some instruments in a little from extreme left or right in the stereo specgtrum, and a few details that may have been getting a little lost in the original mix have been given a lift in the new version." - Steven Wilson, 1st July 2011


Track Listing:

01. Aqualung
02. Cross Eyed Mary
03. Cheap Day Return
04. Mother Goose
05. Wond'ring Aloud
06. Up To Me
07. My God
08. Hymn 43
09. Slipstream
10. Locomotive Breath
11. Wind Up

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